Life-saving apparatus.



No. 816,681. PATENTED APR. 3, 1906.

A. FILLER. LIFE SAVING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED DBG.10,1904

Witnesses inventor UNITED STATES PATENT FFIQ.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 3, 1906.

Application filed December 10,1904. Serial No. 236,352.

I0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ANTON PILLER, a subject of the King of Prussia,German Emperor, residing at Spandau, in the Kingdom of Prussia andGerman Empire, have invented certain new and useful Life-SavingApparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a safety device enabling skaters and otherpersons who have fallen through the ice to cling to the ice until helparrives, and it further provides means whereby assistance can be givento extricate the skater from the water.

The improvement resides mainly in the construction of a device carriedby the skater, a wristband provided with a plate having spikes to bestruck into the ice, and so giving a grip to the person who has fallenin.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention, Figure 1is a perspective view showing the complete device. Fig. 2 is a detail,hereinafter referred to.

As shown, to wristband a, provided with a buckle b, is secured a plate0, so that after buckling the band around the wrist the smooth lowerside of the plate lies against the inner part of the hand. The plate a,which is integral with the plate of the buckle b, has three or morespikes d for driving into the ice. Generally the said spikes are coveredby a casing g, which is provided with a resilient catch f, moved under aclip 6 on the plate 0. On the casing 9 there is, by means of a ring rand bar 8, a line h attached, which is wound on the spool or bobbin '6,arranged on the wristbands The bobbin i is rotatably mounted on a pin a,secured to a plate is, attached to the wristband a. Between the outerdisk of the bobbin and the plate is is a stop device Z m, which preventsthe line from unwinding automatically. The bobbin is covered by means ofa case p, (shown in Fig. 2,) which has a lateral slot for the line andan orifice 0 in the base, through which passes the pin n.

The method of using the device is as fol lows: After a skater or otherperson has fallen through the ice he removes the casing g with thefingers of the hand to which the band a is attached by pressing lightlyon the plate. The spikes d are now exposed and the skater strikes thespikes into the ice while keeping the band on his wrist, and in this waygets a firm grip on the ice, so as not to be carried away by theundercurrent. The casing g hangs from the line, and the stop device andalso the casing 19 prevent the line from unwinding. As soon as otherpersons come to assist, the party who has fallen in unwinds the line andthrows the case 9 and the line to his rescuers, so that the latterassist him, by drawing on the line, to clamber out of the water.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Let ters Patent, is

1. In a device of the class set forth the com bination with a wristbandof a plate having spikes and attached to said wristband, a casingremovably mounted on said plate to cover said spikes, a line having oneend connected to said casing, and a bobbin secured to the wristband towhich the other end of said line is attached, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a device of the class set forth, in combination, a wristband, aplate having spikes attached to said wristband, a casing remov ablymounted on said plate, a bobbin secured to the wristband, a casecovering said bobbin said case having a guiding-slot, a line attached tosaid bobbin and to said casing, and means for preventing said line fromunwinding from said bobbin substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twowitnesses.

ANTON FILLER.

Witnesses WOLDEMAR HAUPT, HENRY HASPER.

